Almost There

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

Azen and I had been riding for hours; I was ready to get off the stupid horse and just walk for a while, but this was faster. I tilted my head back slightly, looking at the stars. There were millions of them, tiny little pinpricks in the sky. It was peaceful tonight; not too hot and not too cold; perfect riding weather [though I did get tired of sitting still when the weather was like this]. Neither of us had spoken since we left the Castle; we were just riding in compainionable [[Is that a word?]] silence.

I could almost see the coast now; it wouldn't take us much longer to reach it, something I was definitly dreading. I didn't know how Azen would react when he found out how terrified of water I was; he'd probably laugh like everyone else.

[Azen]

[Azen]

If Jaydn was uncomfortable on water, we were even, because I was d**n uncomfortable on a horse. The thing moved weird...and made weird noises and...well, the whole thing was just weird. And I didn't move yet we were still moving...no. Weird.

I caught scent of the salty sea air and relished in it for a few moments.....before I went back to being weirded out by the horse again. It kept looking at me....like it was a fish or something...it was really creeping me out. I hoped we could get off soon.

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

All right, I was sick of the stupid horse. My a** was sore and I needed to stretch my legs. Pulling the horse to a stop I jumped down from the saddle. "I'm going to walk for a while," I said to Azen as I walked in front of the horse [while holding onto it's reins so it didn't run away]. I watched Azen out of the corner of my eye; it was hysterical watching him on a horse. He looked completely freaked out; though, I'm sure he'd find my fear of water just as funny.

The coast was much closer now, and I could smell the brine of the ocean on the breeze [and, personally, I thought it stank]. 'I bet he's glad we're so close to the stupid ocean,' I thought, grimancing at the water I could just see on the horizon.

[Azen]

[Azen]

I was glad when Jaydn said he wanted to walk around for a bit. I had wanted that like thirty miles ago. I jumped down frm the saddle as gracefully as I could manage (the thing was still stare at me) and relished when my feet touched the ground.

I led the horse by the reins down to the beach. It seemed to be about as fond of water as JAydn was, so I left it on the sand while I stepped about ankle deep into the water. I hoped the horse wuldn't run, but I was pretty sure I could catch it if it did. I bent down and let the water run through my hands as it washed in and out. How could Jaydn hate this?

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

Leaving my horse by his [they were trained to stay where they were left], I followed Azen down to the water. I stopped just short of the shore, trying not to look nervous. Honestly, how can he stand being in the water? It was salty and gross, and he didn't even know what else was in there. Forcing myself not to shudder, I stuck my foot into the water slowly.

It was freezing. Seriously, how can he enjoy this? I pulled my foot back out, backing up a few feet so the waves wouldn't hit my toes. I sat down, wondering if Azen was as hungry as I was; we hadn't ate before we left. I ran my hand through the sand slowly, watching it shimmer in the moonlight.

[Azen]

[Azen]

I chuckled a little when Jaydn backed up from it. Hey, he was laughing at me earlier for being on a horse. I waded in a little further, just til the water was below my knees; I didn't want to get my Bermudas wet. I used magic to heighten my sense of sight and eventually found what I was looking for under the waves; a small cluster or shellfish. I grabbed one, cracked it open, I sucked out the small bit of meat inside. I picked up another one and held it out to Jaydn. "Want one?"

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

"How can you eat that?! That's disgusting!" I'm sure the look on my face was horrified; honestly, that couldn't taste good. I jumped up and walked back to the horses and pulled a loaf of bread out of the bag I had packed and walked back towards the shore.

I sat down where I had been before and broke the loaf in half. "Why don't you eat real food?" I asked, holding out one half to him and taking a bite out of the other.

[Azen]

[Azen]

"Hey, it's organic." That was very true. That shellfish had probably been still alive when I ate it. Ah, well. Back on the island we had actual contests where people would see how many they could eat. I think I'd actually won it only once. Sev came really close too. But, I figured he was tired of hearing about the island, so I didn't bring any of this up.

I took the half-loaf he gave me and sat down next to him, sitting far enough away so he wouldn't get wet. I didn't really plan to finsh it, since I figured we had better save up on provisions. I lay down in the grass, looking up at the stars and wondering if they looked the same back home.

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

"Sure," I muttered around a mouthful of bread. I finished about half of what I had, then went back to the horses and put it back into my bag. I was thristy, but we didn't have any water with us, and I wasn't about to drink salt water. I walked back over to Azen and sat down, pulling my knees up to my chest and tipping my head back to look at the stars.

I don't know how long we sat like that; probably half an hour. I was so thristy I could hardly stand it. "Do-" I had to stop and clear my throat, "Do you know any way we can get fresh water out here?" I can't believe I hadn't thought of bringing water sooner; I felt like an idiot.

[Azen]

[Azen]

Another thing I hadn't thought of. "Oh. Yeah...that might be a small problem. You ever just tried to drink your own venom?" I'd done it before, and it was actually a pretty good water subsitute. There was one downside: it really didn't taste all that great. "Or you can try taking salt water and putting venom in it. A cobra's is potent enough that it should wipe out most of the sodium." I had no idea if that was actually true or not, but I didn't know if he'd be too keen on the idea of just swallowing poison.

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

"Call me crazy if you want, but no, I haven't." That had to be the most disgusting-sounding thing I'd ever heard of; that was worse than when he hate the shellfish [and that was pretty d**m gross].

I considered what he said, not liking the options. Suppressing a sigh, I said, "Whichever's easier, I guess." Though neither sounded to plesant, I wasn't really up for doing something that was going to be difficult; I was too tired.

[Azen]

[Azen]

Well unless you got a topography map with all the lakes on it, and are lucky enough to find one around here, I don't thik we have much choice." I went back down to the coast, cupped my hands full of salt water and drank it, letting venom slip down my throat as well. I winced at the taste, but hey, a system would run a lot better on that mix than on salt water alone. I don't know Jaydn," I called back to him, "I think you're better off just swallowing venom. It'll taste right about the same, and I know you're not too fond of salt water anyway."

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

I sneered but let venom seep down my throat. I coughed at first, not used to [and I probably never will be] the taste. "If I ever decide to go out into the desert without water again, stab me."

I walked down to where Azen was, staying just out of reach of the waves. "How can you stand being in water?"

[Azen]

[Azen]

I chuckled a little as I watched Jaydn's face. "Hm?" I asked when he asked how I could stand water. "I guess it's because I've been around it so much. I wonder how you can stand this great sand pit." No water for miles and nothing but sand. And all that heat with no shade, it would drive me crazy.

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

"There's no water." Though I did prefer shade to sun, the desert wasn't horrible, if you had somewhere to go when it got really hot out.

A few minutes passed in silence before I spoke again. "And you'll be rid of the desert soon. We're probably pretty close to the bridge."